$650/pair of tires and lots of other eye-catching technology.
Of the two cobblestone spring monuments, Flemish usually loses out in the technical department at Roubaix. Things looked pretty normal at the start of De Ronde's season opener in Antwerp last Sunday. However, to my own surprise, there were many golden technology nuggets hidden within a sea of seemingly standard setups.
Matt – “Busy day for technology, isn’t it, Ronan?”
Ronan – “Yeah, well, not that much.”
Or so I thought before sitting down to edit the photos I took walking around the team zones of the women's and men's editions of the Tour of Flanders. After a few minutes, I realized I had over 900 photos to sort through. In fact, De Ronde had a busy day in the technology industry.
From new tires to new tire and rim combinations, undercover handlebars and some 'progressive saddle positions', here's what we saw at the 2024 Tour of Flanders.
Goodyear has some new tires that appear to be prototype or team-specific tires. This tire is listed as his Vector LTD Wet Weather Race His Tire on Goodyear's His Bikes website, but it costs a hefty $650 per pair and a 30-day delivery time. This is a clear attempt to circumvent the UCI's so-called commercialization rules. This tire is designed for use with TSS (hookless) rims and TC (tubeless crotchet, also known as hooked) clincher rims. The Vector LTD's tread pattern is closely related to, and likely identical to, the Vector Sport's tread pattern. It has a smooth center section, fishhook-like grooves, and raised shoulders, all probably designed to improve grip in wet weather. Goodyear's website lists both 28mm and 30mm versions of the Vector LTD, but Human Powered Health used the 30mm option. The Riddle Trek men's and women's teams raced in prototype Pirellis, as they have for most of the previous season. There are no details about the new tires yet, but the team staff prohibited me from measuring the tires with calipers. However, it felt non-slip when I touched it. Thankfully, this sidewall stamp and Tipex pen on one of the men's bikes gives you the approximate width.The Riddle Trek Women's Team also raced with prototype tires…However, it appears they have opted for the 28mm version of the new tire. Mads Pedersen was the only Ridl Trek rider racing Pirelli tubular tires. Meanwhile, most of the Liv AlUla Jayco team raced on Vittoria Corsa Control tubulars fitted with seemingly team-specific Cadex Ultra 50 tubular rims.Meanwhile, SD Works, Soudal Quickstep and Bora-Hansgrohe all raced 28mm clincher Turbo Cotton Hell of the North, presumably with latex inner tubes, as seen on Lotte Kopec's Tarmac SL8. did. UAE Team Emirates has installed rarely seen 'transparent' sidewalls on the Continental GP, perhaps in a rush to obtain 30mm tires following Thursday's UCI announcement that teams should follow ISO standard-compliant combinations. I took it out of a 5000 S TR. Given that the Enve 4.5 rim has a 25 mm inner rim diameter, this announcement means the Team UAE rider will be required to race on 30 mm tires rather than his 28 mm tires that he normally uses. . Ineos-Grenadiers also lined up with 30mm GP 5000 S TR…There were also several 32's on site, as seen on the team car's spare bike. Lotto-Dstny switches to wheels from Orbea's component brand Oquo. As Escape Collective understands, that was always the plan. The team used Zipp wheels to start the season while waiting for Oquo wheels to arrive. The team currently uses a combination of wheels from both brands. The Lotto-Dstny rider was still running 28mm tires and raced on ISO-compliant Zipp 454 NSW rims with a 23mm internal rim width. Movistar entered the race with a Zipp 303 Firecrest. Zipp recently told us that this wheelset is built for the more extreme conditions of their wheels and is recommended for use by teams in cobblestone classic races. Optional. (Including gravel) The Visma-Lease a Bike raced tubeless with a 30mm Vittoria Corsa Pros setup. The team raced last year with a 28mm version of the same tire, and it is unclear whether the UCI's recent decision to apply the ISO minimum 29mm tire on 24mm and 25mm internal rim widths is the reason for the change, but the tire size Reserve's 40|44 wheelset has a rim width of 25.5mm at the front and 24mm at the rear.Tudor Pro Cycling has adapted DT Swiss' low-profile (for pro racing) ERC 45 rims for cobblestone classics. The ERC wheel series is described as a “fast gran fondo” wheel and is said to be more stable in crosswinds and more forgiving on a variety of surfaces.Cofidis is the only team that still races entirely on tubulars. Most teams now use mini compressors at the start of the race. I can't remember the last time I saw a truck pump in use at the start village. A mechanic in Astana had this Poggio Solutions R180 compressor of his. His website for Poggio Solutions describes it as “a true novelty in the world of cycling” as it allows you to apply up to 20 bar/300 PSI of air pressure to your tires. That's about 5 times more than a compressor. The mechanic was putting air into most of the tires. Meanwhile, another mechanic wanted to make sure these valves weren't leaking.Team dsm-firmenich PostNL's mechanics used their trusty Fumpa pumps. This little pump can check and refill pressure on a team's worth of bikes. Returning to Astana for a moment, Michael Morkov seems to be using a black ink aero bar stem hidden beneath that slick Team Astana Wilier paint job. Valentin Madouas chooses this long, low 0-Bar from his climbing bike Zero SLR for his Wilier Filante SLR. On the subject of handlebar setups, Magnus Sheffield is a maverick with his Ineos Grenadiers by using a traditional non-aero profile two-piece handlebar and stem. Also note the handlebar tape that extends to the stem faceplate. Lizzie Deignan chose to mount SRAM's wireless blips on the end of her handlebar drops, rather than the hook or top position common for sprinting and climbing.
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